East Central remains undefeated in best start to Seth Smith era

Of the three high school football teams from the six coastal counties currently ranked in the Mississippi AP poll one of them resides all the way out in Hurley. Now in year five of the Seth Smith era, East Central continues its ascension through the Class 4A ranks with a pair of big time offensive weapons leading the charge into Friday’s battle with Hazlehurst.
It’s Thursday and the Hornets are 3-0 and buzzing about their best start ever under Head Coach Seth Smith. But his team is like that every other day of the week as well. East Central Tight End Brad Cumbest said, “Coach Smith is a hype dude, no doubt about that. I want to be just like Coach Smith.”
East Central Running Back Tony Brown said, “We’re just following our coach. He’s a crazy man, we’re crazy kids.”
Crazy kids with crazy talent: take Tony Brown for example who rushed for more than 3,300 yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior. This year, he’s already at 651 and five scores as the nation’s top returning rusher. East Central Head Coach Seth Smith said, “Tony is who we are as a program. He runs extremely hard, he’s always positive, he’s always got a great attitude.”
“You never know what’s going to happen. He could be a mess, and just him come right out of it.”
“It feels pretty good, but you’ve always got to stay humble. And I’m just going to keep doing my thing every Friday.”
This Friday is perhaps East Central’s toughest match-up yet against 3-1 Hazlehurst from Class 3A. “They can beat us, no doubt they can beat us. If we don’t show up, they’ll beat us.”
But Mississippi State commit Brad Cumbest is a walking mismatch at tight end, capable of keeping the defense honest. “Guess we’re going to have to find out, ain’t we?”
“Wow. If you watch him on film it pretty much speaks for itself. 6’5″, 240, runs a 4.6, he’s got great hands so he offers a lot for us. We’re a running team, so when you put him out wide he can be a matchup nightmare so he’s done a lot of good things for us.”
These days, it’ all a balancing act for East Central, a program that’s come a long way from its one win season under Coach Smith, his first in 2013, to now where the Hornets are still undefeated, having won every game by at least two touchdowns, but still not at the pinnacle just yet. East Central Free Safety Andrew Seward said, “We enjoy it, taking it game by game. Enjoy it every day, we’re very blessed and we know we’ve got a long ways to go.”
“Without being too cliché, hopefully what you see is what you get. The way we play on Friday is the way we work Monday-Thursday. That’s hopefully what’s led us to be successful, and hopefully what will lead us to continued success.”
The Hornets host the Indians out of Hazlehurst at 7 p.m. tomorrow.